How does a guy who peddles hot dogs for a living feed his pie hole? If you’re Steve Ballas, owner of Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs, you spend your Saturday afternoon holding a pizza tasting tourney, which is exactly what Ballas is doing today at his frankfurter hut at 3525 East Colfax…
What you may have missed this week on Cafe Society while you were weighing in on twelve’s Jeff Osaka, the restaurant’s exec chef and owner who’s at the center of this week’s Chef and Tell interview — and some controversy surrounding his comment regarding his most critical customers. So far,…
It’s not easy finding a good French onion soup in Denver, so imagine my surprise when I wrapped my jaws around this fantastic French onion soup sandwich, easily one of the coolest new dish discoveries this year. Whose sandwich out-souped the classic? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone who gave the…
Jeff Osaka, chef/owner of twelve, and the center of this week’s compelling Chef and Tell interview, changes his menu monthly, hence the restaurant’s name. The January board trumpets foie gras and pork belly, Colorado lamb and a vegetarian paella and several sugar-laced finales, including Osaka’s orange polenta cake, the recipe…
Come what March, Congress Park residents will have a new grape divide and grazing pad in which to unleash their inner oenophile and appetite, namely Sienna Wine Bar & Small Plates, opening in a former beauty salon at 3422 East 12th Avenue. The wine bar’s Facebook page, which has some…
These niche tacos have been the tac-o the town for years, a constant in a fickle, ever-changing dining climate. And they’re just as awesome now as they ever were. Where did I get my crunch on? Special bonus: Every Friday, anyone who gave the first correct answer to any of…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
This is part two of my interview with Jeff Osaka, exec chef of twelve. You can read part one of my interview with Osaka here. Rules of conduct in your kitchen: I don’t have any rules per se. The only thing I ask from my kitchen staff is to pay…
How does a guy who peddles hot dogs for a living feed his own pie hole? If you’re Steve Ballas, owner of Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs, you hold a pizza-eating contest. “I’m from the East Coast. I love pizza, and during the cold-weather months, everyone wants pizza. Plus, I’m a big…
I got the first text late last night: “Lookin’ like our new location is at Argonaut Liquor,” it said. Two minutes later, another text: “Eeeyup.” And, finally, “Come down to 16th and Arapahoe tomorrow and I’ll make you rattlesnake or currywurst or something…” The barrage of texts and the promise…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
The location has been called “low-rent,” “brave” and “sketchy,” but Jeff Osaka, owner/chef of twelve, the obscure, 35-seat NoDo neighborhood restaurant, whose monthly-changing menu is always a stunning adventure in food, rolls his eyes and shrugs at the misconception. “I found this restaurant on Craigslist while living in Los Angeles,…
Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market’s choicest ingredients home with them, and cook up a feast. Paul, Pete’s partner…
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to save your pennies, Encore, the New American restaurant at 2550 East Colfax Avenue, sympathizes with your plight. To that end, exec chef Paul Reilly has introduced some swell new food specials that run Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of each week…
Apparently a crisp Ben Franklin, a bottle of wine and your mug shot on the wall of fame wasn’t quite enough incentive for the would-be food warriors that Virgilio Urbano, the master dough flipper of Virgilio’s Pizzeria, had hoped would try and tackle the 11-pound, 28-inch pizza-eating challenge that he…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
“Pinch the tail, suck the head, burn in hell.” That’s the verbiage on a makeshift church sign at godhatesshrimp.com. God hates shrimp? Clearly, he (or she) just hasn’t sucked good shrimp heads. But the opportunity exists for the rest of you if you can guess where I’m eating. Special bonus:…
A cop from Miami Gardens, Florida somehow keeps his cool while dissecting a maggot-laden steak sandwich from a restaurant that clearly doesn’t live by the motto, “To serve and protect.” The determined police officer insists on keeping the eurolarvae alive as evidence for the local news station. Warning: This is…
Let us take a moment to pray praise the taco. Last July, Gidget, the talking prima donna Chihuahua best known for making Taco Bell’s fast food look cute (and, at times, even edible), passed away at 15 after complications from a massive stroke. Now comes word that the last bell…
Argyll Gastropub, the subterranean grub-and-ale house at 2700 East Third Avenue, is about to get bigger — much bigger. That’s because Argyll owner Robert Thompson just snatched up the Plush space directly next door, which closed following New Year’s Eve. Thompson’s first priority is to expand the patio before St…
As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com…
You have exactly 14 days left in which to order the salmon in the above snap, because come February 1, it’ll disappear along with the majority of other dishes on the ever-changing board. Can you guess whose fish I netted? Cast your guesses in the comment section below. Special bonus:…
